How well does your A8V Deluxe work?

[liu]

I spent 2 days in booting and rebooting while testing different options
in vain to set up a PC with A8V Deluxe and A64 +3200 (Venice). The A8V
Deluxe board is a refurbished one that I ordered from newegg a few days
ago. I've set up 5 PCs so far in the last 7 years but this is the most
difficult one. Before giving up and return it, I'd like to hear your
opinions and advice on this board.

The biggest problem I have with this one is that the problems are in
random that I can't find a pattern of the problems and figure out which
parts always work and which parts always do not work. I'm inclined to
think that I got a bad board. I probably should not have ordered a
refurbished one although my last refurbished one worked fine.

Here are some main issues I encountered:
1. It only works with one memory module, anytime you add 2, it does not
boot. No video signals if there are 2 DDR RAM placed on motherboard. It
does not seem to matter which memory module I use or which slot(s) I
put it/them in. My memory modules are two 512MB Kingmax MPXC22D-388T3
and one 512MB Centon. All are DDR-400.

2. When installing ethernet driver (Yukan for 64-bit), it can't
finish on a newly installed Windows XP 64-bit version. It always
freezes the PC at 90% of the installation. Mouse can't move, I have
to reboot. On the freshly installed Windows 2000, it freezes once too.
After installed and worked, it driver would disables itself with a
question mark by the Device Manager the next day.

3. Most of time I can only put 1 HD on primary IDE. It only worked a
few times with both master and slave HD drives. I'm sure the jumpers
are correctly placed and master as the first drive on the cable. Same
with RAID drive, if I have one master drive and one master on RAID, it
does not boot. No video signal out. But, it booted when load in safe
mode a few times. secondary IDE works fine with one DVD-RW and one
CD-RW.

I'm not sure about the version of BIOS but I was not able to update the
BIOS (under DOS) to the beta version of BIOS. I got "File creation
error" when typing "AFUDOS /i<A8V-ASUS-Deluxe-1014.004> " under DOS
(booted with a DOS CD).

Any advice on what I can do to make it work? What motherboard would you
recommend if A8V Deluxe does not work??

THANKS a lot for your help,

cpliu

 

[Old Bugger]

I spent 2 days in booting and rebooting while testing different options
in vain to set up a PC with A8V Deluxe and A64 +3200 (Venice). The A8V
Deluxe board is a refurbished one that I ordered from newegg a few days
ago. I've set up 5 PCs so far in the last 7 years but this is the most
difficult one. Before giving up and return it, I'd like to hear your
opinions and advice on this board.

My A8V has the 3200+ chip before the Venice. The only hassle I had with my A8V was setting up IDE drives on
the RAID controller. That was my fault rather than the motherboard.

The biggest problem I have with this one is that the problems are in
random that I can't find a pattern of the problems and figure out which
parts always work and which parts always do not work. I'm inclined to
think that I got a bad board. I probably should not have ordered a
refurbished one although my last refurbished one worked fine.

What brand and power output is your power supply?

Here are some main issues I encountered:
1. It only works with one memory module, anytime you add 2, it does not
boot. No video signals if there are 2 DDR RAM placed on motherboard. It
does not seem to matter which memory module I use or which slot(s) I
put it/them in. My memory modules are two 512MB Kingmax MPXC22D-388T3
and one 512MB Centon. All are DDR-400.

Mine runs a pair of 512 meg Kingmax and a pair of 512 meg Samsung DDR400. Works perfectly. I also tried it
with a pair of Hitachi 1 gig DDR 400. Again it ran perfectly. Then I tried it with the Hitachi and Samsung,
giving me 3 gig of RAM. Yet again there were no hassles.

2. When installing ethernet driver (Yukan for 64-bit), it can't
finish on a newly installed Windows XP 64-bit version. It always
freezes the PC at 90% of the installation. Mouse can't move, I have
to reboot. On the freshly installed Windows 2000, it freezes once too.
After installed and worked, it driver would disables itself with a
question mark by the Device Manager the next day.

Try running Knoppix. It is a version of Linux that will run quite happily from a CD.

3. Most of time I can only put 1 HD on primary IDE. It only worked a
few times with both master and slave HD drives. I'm sure the jumpers
are correctly placed and master as the first drive on the cable. Same
with RAID drive, if I have one master drive and one master on RAID, it
does not boot. No video signal out. But, it booted when load in safe
mode a few times. secondary IDE works fine with one DVD-RW and one
CD-RW.

Mine has an 80 and 200 gig on Controller 1, an 80 and a DVD burner on Controller 2 and a pair of 200 gig
drives on the RAID controller. Runs very well. I set mine to Cable Select rather than Master and Slave.

I'm not sure about the version of BIOS but I was not able to update the
BIOS (under DOS) to the beta version of BIOS. I got "File creation
error" when typing "AFUDOS /i<A8V-ASUS-Deluxe-1014.004> " under DOS
(booted with a DOS CD).

Try BIOS version 1012.

Any advice on what I can do to make it work? What motherboard would you
recommend if A8V Deluxe does not work??

Your choice is very limited these days if you want to run an AGP gfx card.

 

[fasteddy]

I spent 2 days in booting and rebooting while testing different options

I'm not sure about the version of BIOS but I was not able to update the
BIOS (under DOS) to the beta version of BIOS. I got "File creation
error" when typing "AFUDOS /i<A8V-ASUS-Deluxe-1014.004> " under DOS
(booted with a DOS CD).

cpliu

Hi there, didn't it come with a manual? If not download it from the Asus
site.

Put your bios on a floppy and press " Alt and F2 " on boot. It has its own
utility, you see - no need for DOS!

Good luck
Eddy

 

[Peter R. Fletcher]

I would suspect a bad power supply which drops voltages under load.

I spent 2 days in booting and rebooting while testing different options
in vain to set up a PC with A8V Deluxe and A64 +3200 (Venice). The A8V
Deluxe board is a refurbished one that I ordered from newegg a few days
ago. I've set up 5 PCs so far in the last 7 years but this is the most
difficult one. Before giving up and return it, I'd like to hear your
opinions and advice on this board.

The biggest problem I have with this one is that the problems are in
random that I can't find a pattern of the problems and figure out which
parts always work and which parts always do not work. I'm inclined to
think that I got a bad board. I probably should not have ordered a
refurbished one although my last refurbished one worked fine.

Here are some main issues I encountered:
1. It only works with one memory module, anytime you add 2, it does not
boot. No video signals if there are 2 DDR RAM placed on motherboard. It
does not seem to matter which memory module I use or which slot(s) I
put it/them in. My memory modules are two 512MB Kingmax MPXC22D-388T3
and one 512MB Centon. All are DDR-400.

2. When installing ethernet driver (Yukan for 64-bit), it can't
finish on a newly installed Windows XP 64-bit version. It always
freezes the PC at 90% of the installation. Mouse can't move, I have
to reboot. On the freshly installed Windows 2000, it freezes once too.
After installed and worked, it driver would disables itself with a
question mark by the Device Manager the next day.

3. Most of time I can only put 1 HD on primary IDE. It only worked a
few times with both master and slave HD drives. I'm sure the jumpers
are correctly placed and master as the first drive on the cable. Same
with RAID drive, if I have one master drive and one master on RAID, it
does not boot. No video signal out. But, it booted when load in safe
mode a few times. secondary IDE works fine with one DVD-RW and one
CD-RW.

I'm not sure about the version of BIOS but I was not able to update the
BIOS (under DOS) to the beta version of BIOS. I got "File creation
error" when typing "AFUDOS /i<A8V-ASUS-Deluxe-1014.004> " under DOS
(booted with a DOS CD).

Any advice on what I can do to make it work? What motherboard would you
recommend if A8V Deluxe does not work??

THANKS a lot for your help,

cpliu

Please respond to the Newsgroup, so that others may benefit from the exchange.
Peter R. Fletcher

 

[liu]

Thank you all for the suggestions. I read the manual and got the syntax
right for updating the BIOS. There isn't much change after the update.
There is still no rule on what works and what would not. It boot once
but it won't boot the next time. Even it booted, the mouse freezed
quickly. I doubt that all my peripherals are bad at one time. I really
suspect that it's a bad motherboard. I will give Knoppix a try just to
see how the OS looks like. My PSU is Rosewill 502 from
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817182002. It
seems a good PSU.

 

[Black Shuck]

liu got up from the bar and shouted: :

I spent 2 days in booting and rebooting while testing different options
in vain to set up a PC with A8V Deluxe and A64 +3200 (Venice). The A8V
Deluxe board is a refurbished one that I ordered from newegg a few days
ago. I've set up 5 PCs so far in the last 7 years but this is the most
difficult one. Before giving up and return it, I'd like to hear your
opinions and advice on this board.

The biggest problem I have with this one is that the problems are in
random that I can't find a pattern of the problems and figure out which
parts always work and which parts always do not work. I'm inclined to
think that I got a bad board. I probably should not have ordered a
refurbished one although my last refurbished one worked fine.

Here are some main issues I encountered:
1. It only works with one memory module, anytime you add 2, it does not
boot. No video signals if there are 2 DDR RAM placed on motherboard. It
does not seem to matter which memory module I use or which slot(s) I
put it/them in. My memory modules are two 512MB Kingmax MPXC22D-388T3
and one 512MB Centon. All are DDR-400.

2. When installing ethernet driver (Yukan for 64-bit), it can't
finish on a newly installed Windows XP 64-bit version. It always
freezes the PC at 90% of the installation. Mouse can't move, I have
to reboot. On the freshly installed Windows 2000, it freezes once too.
After installed and worked, it driver would disables itself with a
question mark by the Device Manager the next day.

3. Most of time I can only put 1 HD on primary IDE. It only worked a
few times with both master and slave HD drives. I'm sure the jumpers
are correctly placed and master as the first drive on the cable. Same
with RAID drive, if I have one master drive and one master on RAID, it
does not boot. No video signal out. But, it booted when load in safe
mode a few times. secondary IDE works fine with one DVD-RW and one
CD-RW.

I'm not sure about the version of BIOS but I was not able to update the
BIOS (under DOS) to the beta version of BIOS. I got "File creation
error" when typing "AFUDOS /i<A8V-ASUS-Deluxe-1014.004> " under DOS
(booted with a DOS CD).

Any advice on what I can do to make it work? What motherboard would you
recommend if A8V Deluxe does not work??

THANKS a lot for your help,

cpliu

I assume you have only fitted the memory listed on the Asus site as
being compatible, and not just any generic memory? Fitting any old
memory is likely to cause all sorts of strange problems....

 

[Darth Geeky]

I'm running 2GB (2 x 1GB) of generic-but-still-pretty-decent Rosewill
memory on my A8V Deluxe and it's running flawlessly. I ran memtest on
it all night without even a single hiccup. The Asus list of tested
memory is always outdated and at any rate doesn't indicate that no
other memory brands will work, just that they haven't been tested by
Asus.

In this case, it sounds to me as though the OP has a power supply
problem. That's the first thing I'd check. A cheapo or otherwise
defective power supply can cause every single one of the weird symptoms
described.

 

[liu]

My memory is Kingmax DDR-400. Although the exact model isn't on the
list in A8V site, it worked on another PC before. If the memory is the
problem why do they work individually? I probably will try to buy
another 1GB from the list.
My PSU is Rosewill RE502-BLK 500W I purchased the same time as my
CPU/motherboard.
BTW, how long does it take for your A8V to boot up?
Mine:
23 seconds displaying AV8 logo
15 seconds going through other process including RAID
30 seconds with blinking pointer at the top left corner.
So it's over a minute before seeing the option to choose a system to go
to.

That's pretty long for booting up...

 

[liu]

I've successfully updated the BIOS but it didn't make any difference.
Knoppix stopped at detecting HDHCP broadcasting for IP. I've had it
disconnected but it didn't make any difference.

 

[Paul]

I've successfully updated the BIOS but it didn't make any difference.
Knoppix stopped at detecting HDHCP broadcasting for IP. I've had it
disconnected but it didn't make any difference.

Tried "nodhcp" from the boot prompt ? That is the only thing I
see listed here:

http://www.knoppix.net/wiki/Cheat_Codes

Paul

 

[Rob]

My memory is Kingmax DDR-400. Although the exact model isn't on the
list in A8V site, it worked on another PC before. If the memory is the
problem why do they work individually? I probably will try to buy
another 1GB from the list.
My PSU is Rosewill RE502-BLK 500W I purchased the same time as my
CPU/motherboard.
BTW, how long does it take for your A8V to boot up?
Mine:
23 seconds displaying AV8 logo
15 seconds going through other process including RAID
30 seconds with blinking pointer at the top left corner.
So it's over a minute before seeing the option to choose a system to go
to.

That's pretty long for booting up...

I had huge problems getting my A8V Deluxe working - turned out to be
RAM. I have 2 sticks of Crucial 512mb 3200. I thought they were the same
- but they're not. I've put them in slots 1 and 2 and all fine now.
There may be a performance hit but it seems to benchmark close to spec.
Booting to OS choice takes about 10s (no RAID, 2xSATA, 3Xoptical drives).

Rob

 

[Black Shuck]

Rob got up from the bar and shouted: :

I had huge problems getting my A8V Deluxe working - turned out to be
RAM. I have 2 sticks of Crucial 512mb 3200. I thought they were the same
- but they're not. I've put them in slots 1 and 2 and all fine now.
There may be a performance hit but it seems to benchmark close to spec.
Booting to OS choice takes about 10s (no RAID, 2xSATA, 3Xoptical drives).

Rob

It's pretty critical if you are running DDR400 in Dual Channel mode,
that the memory is the same, and on the compatibility list. I had some
decent branded memory, and my system was very flakey with it.
memtest86+ reported memory errors pretty frequently. Since returning
it, and buying Kingston from the compatibility list, system is rock
solid, and memtest86+ reports everything fine after a 12 hour memory test..

I don't think it's matter two hoots how big a name your memory is, or
how much you paid for it, if it aint on the list, you stand a real
chance of it not working in DDR400 DC mode.

The memory I had that caused me problems, worked find in DDR333 mode
Duial Channel, and DDR400 mode Single Channel, just not DDR400DC.

 

[liu]

As Peter suspected, once I switched back to my old 430W Antec PSU, it
works better. I can't use its onboard Firewire and ethernet. Whenever I
put a firewire HD, it crashes. It also freezes the system installing
the network driver. Also, it can't recognized my slave drive on master.
I have use RAID mode in order to mount a HD on RAID connection.
Choosing regular IDE does not work.

Can you have 1.5GB memory on new PCs? I can't never make my old or this
system to use the 3rd memory module. It would not boot without any
video signal while they work fine indivdually or in pair.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions in this thread.

cpliu

 

[Paul]

As Peter suspected, once I switched back to my old 430W Antec PSU, it
works better. I can't use its onboard Firewire and ethernet. Whenever I
put a firewire HD, it crashes. It also freezes the system installing
the network driver. Also, it can't recognized my slave drive on master.
I have use RAID mode in order to mount a HD on RAID connection.
Choosing regular IDE does not work.

Can you have 1.5GB memory on new PCs? I can't never make my old or this
system to use the 3rd memory module. It would not boot without any
video signal while they work fine indivdually or in pair.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions in this thread.

cpliu

Once you go dual channel, memory must be installed in pairs.
So three sticks in a four DIMM slot motherboard won't work.

The reason for this, is Athlon64 is not really dual channel.
It operates in either 64 bit mode or 128 bit mode. In 128
bit mode, two DIMMs in the appropriate slots, receive identical
commands at the same time. It is as if the DIMM was made twice as
wide (128 bits wide in fact). Now, consider what happens if a
third DIMM is introduced. The first two DIMMs are doing their
thing in 128 bit mode, but the lonely third DIMM is only 64 bits
wide, and the memory controller is not flexible enough to handle
both modes at the same time (although it could have been designed
that way, that mode is not supported AFAIK - Nforce2 does support
mixed mode operation). I would expect three DIMMs on Athlon64
would make certain bank interleave modes impossible.

If you wish exactly 1.5GB of RAM, run a 512MB and a 1GB DIMM in
slots B1 and B2. That is 64 bit mode, and would allow mixing
DIMM sizes. In theory, you could also try 2x512MB plus 2x256MB,
but there have been Asus Athlon64 boards that don't like operating
that way (when it should work) - it seems only one of the two
pairs would be recognized for some reason. The safest approach
would be to use two identical DIMMs or four identical DIMMs, for
trouble free operation. (In this respect, the Intel boards seem
to offer more configurations that just work.)

The private forums can help with particular motherboard models
and whether the BIOS has problems with mixtures of DIMMs. The
A8V BIOS seems to be doing OK here:

http://forums.pcper.com/showthread.php?t=381006&highlight=a8v+mixed
http://forums.pcper.com/showthread.php?t=393462&highlight=a8v+mixed

Paul